A 22-year-old woman was arrested because she allegedly did not wear her headscarf according to the rules of the Islamic dress code. She died three days later. The family’s lawyer is now demanding that the authorities release “all the videos and photos” that were made at the police station.
After the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini after her arrest for violating the Islamic dress code, the parents of the 22-year-old have filed a lawsuit. Amini’s parents have filed a “lawsuit against the perpetrators of their daughter’s arrest” and against “the police officers who spoke to her after her arrival at the vice squad,” said lawyer Saleh Nikbacht.
The prosecutor and the examining magistrate were asked to examine in detail what exactly happened from the moment of arrest to when Amini was transferred to the hospital, the lawyer explained. Nikbacht asked authorities to provide “all videos and photos” taken during her stay at the police station.
The head of the public prosecutor’s office “promised that the case would be thoroughly investigated and that all our concerns would be taken into account,” said the lawyer. A medical team appointed by Amini’s family should be informed about the progress of the investigation.
The young Kurd Mahsa Amini was arrested by the vice squad on September 13 because she wore her headscarf “inappropriately”. After her arrest, she collapsed under mysterious circumstances at the police station and was pronounced dead at the hospital three days later. Since then, people across the country have taken to the streets to protest her death. To make it difficult for them to gather, communicate or share videos and pictures on social media, the country has severely restricted the internet. Blocked apps also include Instagram and WhatsApp. This remains in force because of the “riot”, said Telecommunications Minister Issa Sarepur. He was informed about the economic consequences of the Internet limitations for online services, “but the fault lies with the troublemakers,” according to the Isna news agency.
The demonstrators speak of police violence, which the authorities firmly reject. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, meanwhile, once again described the protests as a “conspiracy” against his country. “These are conspiracies by enemies against Iran’s leadership because they feel threatened by the system’s dominance, influence and progress,” the president said at a cabinet meeting
Iran has had strict dress codes since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In the big cities in particular, many women now see the rules as rather relaxed and, for example, only wear their headscarves on the back of their heads – to the annoyance of ultra-conservative politicians.
